Adventures in Crafting, Cooking, and Parenting

Love and Gratitude: A Day in Vancouver

Trev and I have known each other a long time. We met 12 years ago in Victoria, BC. When we first met at an SNFU concert, I wasn’t particularly fond of him. He was in his own world but seemed to be following me EVERYWHERE! Bumping into me. Smacking me in the face with his dreads. Spilling his drink on my clothes. I thought he was a fool. The second time we met, I’d just shaved my head. I have no idea why. He found me on my front lawn, crying about my shaved locks. He gave me his number and told me he wanted to buy a toque for me the next day. I never bothered calling. Then, a few weeks later, he walked into my pizza shop looking for work. I couldn’t hire him but did agree to meet for a date. We sat on the Parliament grass in Victoria and started a conversation that is still ongoing.

Last weekend, Trev came back from a week with his family in Jamaica. His flight arrived at 1am, and I went earlier in the day to get a hotel. I spent some of the day shopping and some of it taking pictures – something I almost never do. It’s Trev who started it, really. He inspired me to actually consider how learning to capture an image could be of service to me. One the ferry to Vancouver, I took this picture of him:

He’d just purchased a new phone and gave me his old one so I could use the camera. I was intrigued but not all together hooked. Then he showed me the apps and what I could do to some of my pictures. I will never call myself a photographer, as I have no interest or passion to create a photographic image with anything more complicated than my phone. I have great admiration for people like Trev, my mom, and my sister who possess the ability to sit and focus for a great length of time on one visual frame. I get the idea of intense study but it’s not within me to do that looking through a camera lens. I like that my phone lets me quickly snap an image and then later, when I’m ready to sit, alter it to my heart’s content. I’m glad Trev inspired me to try something new.

Vancouver was a fun place to learn about framing an image. On Granville St., I found a corner covered in pigeons. I love pigeons!! There were 70 or more, enough to actually slow people down. It was hard to photograph as a 2 year old was in bird heaven! In those minutes, where his dad allowed him to stop and be free, that little boy was pure joy. The experience was beautiful to see through his eyes. I did manage to get a couple.

I got bored of shopping pretty quickly (I usually do) and just started wandering the streets. It was a beautiful day. One of the first sunny days of Spring and definitely the warmest! I found a dirty and super smelly ally with some graffiti tags.

This one I found on Granville St. It was gone the next day:

Next, I found myself curious about the buildings in Vancouver. Usually, I look at them as a representation of the socioeconomic disparity in Vancouver – as your perspective moves upwards from the ground to the sky, you move from the poorest to the richest in the city. This time, I saw the buildings differently and found myself appreciating how the architecture bordered sections of the blue sky.

I’m grateful that the love I have for Trevor encouraged me to try something new. It brought me to a magical moment with a young child and expanded my perspective. It also helped me create this blog – something I’ve been saying I’ll do for awhile.